NEW YORK: US stocks opened mixed Thursday as fresh jobs and growth data painted a dull picture of momentum in the economy, and worries over Spain's teetering bank Bankia clouded the markets.
At 1415 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 68.49 points, or 0.55 percent, to 12,351.37.
The S&P 500 index, a broad measure of the markets, lost 11.30 points (0.86 percent) to 1,302.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq slipped 32.06 (1.13 percent) to 2,805.30.
The US government cut its estimate for first-quarter economic growth to 1.9 percent from 2.2 percent, confirming the sluggish pace and raising questions over how much of a rebound could be expected in the current quarter.
Meanwhile two jobs reports -- weekly unemployment claims and private-sector job creation in May -- both were disappointing, pointing to slow overall growth over the past month.
"The underlying trend does seem to be nudging higher," said Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics of the weekly report on new jobless claims -- an indication of the pace of layoffs -- which increased again.
He said it might only have been tied to the recent high gasoline prices pushing down consumer spending through April.
"But we can't rule out the idea that worries over Europe are contributing a bit too," he said.
Meanwhile the European Union pressed Spain to urgently clear up doubts over its mammoth rescue of stricken lender Bankia so as to calm investors fearing a financial breakdown.
Wal-Mart led gainers in the Dow blue chips group with a 0.9 percent rise, while Caterpillar topped the losers falling 4.3 percent after hopes for a Chinese stimulus program were dashed amid denials in official reports.
On the Nasdaq, disc drive maker Seagate fell 5.9 percent and rival Western Digital was off 3.7 percent after both received downgrades from Barclays Capital.
Facebook dropped another 2.3 percent to $27.54, its post-listing plunge continuing two weeks after its massive $16 billion IPO hit the market at $38. Euro-worries sent bond prices higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond dropped to 1.58 percent from 1.63 percent Wednesday, an all-time low, while the 30-year fell to 2.66 percent from 2.72 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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